In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy
Spirit. Amen.

Today, on the Second Sunday after Pentecost, we celebrate
the memory of all the saints of Russia who have enlightened that land and shown
their light on top of the hill instead of under a bushel. What is it that
makes a saint? We've talked about this last week. We read part of
the same reading today as we read last week also.

When Jesus called His disciples, they left immediately, left
their nets, and they didn't look back. They left with many weaknesses. We can
see them. Their warts are shown in the scriptures: they argued with one
another, they jousted with one another to see who would be the greatest, they
had lack of faith, they even denied our Lord, and not just Peter, by the way;
all of them were afraid, even St. John, who followed from a distance.
They all had human frailties. But they did as the good farmer that our
Lord speaks about in a parable: you put your hand to the plow.[1]
And no man who wants to plow a field looks back, because then the furrows will
be not straight, and you will not get as much fruit from the
ground.

This is the key, brothers and sisters. Have you left
your nets? Our Lord called James and John, the sons of Zebedee, and
straightway they left their nets. The "nets" are the
"world", in this context. The spiritual, the inner meaning, of the nets
is this: all the things which entangle us. Have you left your
nets? Or do you still keep nets around?

I'm not talking about whether or not you fall into
sin. We are sinners. We should not be surprised when we sin.
I'm not talking about if you have weaknesses, passions. I'm talking about
your priorities. Have you left your nets? Do you understand?
Do you live your life in accordance with the fact that Christianity must be a
continual ascent, away from the earth, into heaven? A continual change, a
continual changing of one's mind. Warfare till the last breath. This is what
Christianity is. You must leave your nets.

If you set your face towards Jerusalem, as the Lord
did[2],
meaning, if you don't let the world get in the way of what your life is for,
and then God will strengthen you and will help you. You'll have many
problems. You might have many sins. In fact, you might sin
wretchedly and continually, but God will help you if you have the right
priorities, and if you beg Him to help you.

Christianity is not what we believe; it's how we act, it's
what we become. It's not possible without belief, but belief is only the
beginning, just like when the grain of mustard seed is put into the
ground. That is only the beginning. That is only the start.
Then the seedling starts to grow. Many things endanger the seedling, but
eventually, with care, it becomes a great tree.[3]
This is what we must do. We must have the priority to grow, to
change. This is Christianity. This is the
essence.

Our Lord called His disciples; they straightway left their
nets. They'd been waiting for the Messiah. At this point they
didn't really understand. He was a charismatic man, and there was
something about Him. Those with sensitive souls would see such a thing.
They might not understand it, but they saw it and they desired to follow
it. They gave up everything in order to follow it.
Everything. And they didn't look backwards. Now they still
brought along their baggage, and their sins, and their passions, and their
pride, and … everything else. But their desire was to
change.

And look what God has done, with twelve men! He didn't
come to twelve kings, twelve princes, twelve great ones, twelve scholars, but
twelve simple men, uneducated for the most part. Simple. Men of the
sea, men of the earth. And look what happened. Because they desired
to follow Christ, they left their nets. And anything that was imperfect
in them would be, eventually, healed because of their desire.

It is so important to understand the purpose of the
Christian life. We can talk about it, but to really understand it is to
live it. Perfection. Self-amendment. Change according to the
One Whom we say we love. Leaving behind those things that shackle
us. As St. Paul says, "We are surrounded by so great a cloud of
witnesses."[4]
Let's leave behind sin which so easily entangles us. But the first step
to leaving behind sin which entangles is to leave your nets.

The sin may still come with. We see that from the
apostles. The sin may still come with. The weakness still comes
with. But if God sees a man who wants to change, He will help him.
Grace will descend upon him and will warm him. This is the key. You
must desire to change. You must desire to become like
Christ. You must desire to be all fire. And all these
imperfections, they'll just be a memory some day. All the things
that are wrong with us, they'll burn away, and all that will be left, if we
live according to desire for Christ, will be the pearl[5],
all burnished and shining because of our efforts, because of God's grace which
has descended upon us.

Don't lament so much out of proportion about your sins that
you commit and your difficulties with passions; don't lament about those more
than you lament about your attitude and your desire. A lack of desire, a
lack of proper priorities, a lack of faith and belief in the resurrection is
what really makes those sins which entangle you still hang around. They
will be burned away by the grace of God, but you must leave them. You
must struggle with all of your might to leave them.

Now after having been a priest for I think over five years
now, I am well aware of the great grace of God and the great weakness of
men. Unfortunately, I've learned it autobiographically, but also by
observing my flock whom I love. But mostly by observing my own weakness
and seeing how God takes an imperfect vessel and bestows grace upon it.
Most of the grace is wasted, and is not made fruitful, like the water that
flows into the ditch and into the sewer and is not retained in the
orchard. But some of it is retained. And I've learned, and I wish
you to know: God desires your heart, and not so much today that you don't sin
but that you desire to not sin, and that you order your priorities
according to what God has done, and the grace the God-man gives us. If
you leave your nets, everything else will follow.

Certainly, God who has created us for a good work will
complete it in the day of Christ Jesus.[6]
Of course He will. But He will complete it for those who endure to the
end. Not for those who make a beginning, but for those who endure to the
end.[7]
He will not leave those who struggle with their sins. And I tell you
boldly; He will not leave those who fail when they struggle against their sins,
who continue to sin. He will not leave them, if they struggle, if they
desire.

This is the key. This is the pearl. This is the
inner knowledge a Christian must possess. God will not abandon you, but
you must not abandon Him. You must struggle to abandon all that is not of
Him. Whether you are successful or not, in this life, in this world, in
being free of every sin is not as important as if you are successful in
ordering your priorities and your desires. Leave your
nets.

There are many of them in the world today. Sometimes
we think that some of these things, the vices and passions and difficulties,
have been invented by our generation. They've been around a long
time. But now we have a terrible affliction in our society: lukewarmness
of belief. It affects us, makes us make excuses, and makes us to have
false priorities, to arrange for our retirement, but not for the keeping of the
church. To take care of this, or that, but to not say our
prayers.

Don't be entangled by the world. The world offers you
nothing. The world pushes you to the abyss, and then you fall off.
Leave your nets. And then you'll be like the saints.

We can share in something that they have obtained. We
all, I tell you boldly -- every one of us, no matter how sinful, are capable of
becoming as the saints. And that is an arrogant statement; that is the
truth. We are made of the same stuff, and the same grace is shed upon
us.

But the reason why we are moribund in our sins, and why
there is little fruit in our lives, is because we have not left behind our
nets. We still have the wrong priorities. Then let us obey the
apostle Paul, "seeing that we are compassed about by so great a cloud of
witnesses, let us lay aside sin, which so easily encumbers us."[8]
Let's strive for the goal. Let's struggle. Let's desire. Let
us leave our nets. God will not abandon us. God will help
us.

This is glorious news. The saints, you know, are the
resurrection in action. The saints are living examples of the
resurrection, and even in our life we should experience living examples of the
resurrection, if we are able to turn aside from the sins that once beset us, if
we are able to make the right choice, instead of the wrong one that we've been
making for so long. This is the resurrection at work in a man. And
it is a glorious thing. It is a privilege, and an honor to be a creature
of God, for He dwells within us, an amazing thing. Let us leave our nets,
and let's truly experience what God desires for us. Amen.

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[1]
Cf. (Luke 9:59-62) "And he said unto another, Follow me. But he said,
Lord, suffer me first to go and bury my father. {60} Jesus said unto him, Let
the dead bury their dead: but go thou and preach the kingdom of God. {61} And
another also said, Lord, I will follow thee; but let me first go bid them
farewell, which are at home at my house. {62} And Jesus said unto him, No
man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the
kingdom of God."

[2]
(Luke 9:51) "And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should
be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem,"

[3]
(Mat 13:31-32) "Another parable put he forth unto them, saying, The
kingdom of heaven is like to a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and
sowed in his field: {32} Which indeed is the least of all seeds: but when it
is grown, it is the greatest among herbs, and becometh a tree, so that the
birds of the air come and lodge in the branches thereof.". Also in Mark
4:31-32, Luke 13:18-19

[4]
(Heb 12:1) "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great
a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth
so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before
us…"

[5]
(Mat 13:45-46) "Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant
man, seeking goodly pearls: {46} Who, when he had found one pearl of great
price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it."

[6]
(Phil 1:6) "Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath
begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"

[7]
(Mat 24:13) "But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be
saved."